GOP Rep. Scott Perry Says Chesapeake Bay Pollution Is God’s Fault
“The forests were providing a certain amount of nitrates and phosphates to the Chesapeake Bay.”
03/21/2017
By Ed Mazza
A Republican congressman from Pennsylvania claims that God is a polluter.
Rep. Scott Perry was asked at a town hall in Red Lion on Saturday if he supported President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency in light of Pennsylvania’s “history of environmental problems.”
“Don’t we need a stronger EPA to protect the environment?” the questioner asked.
Perry, who has worked to restrict and limit the EPA’s abilities, didn’t directly answer the question.
Instead, he spoke of the Chesapeake Bay strategy, which he said was “forced on” the state and “left some violators out.”
Then he added:
“And by the way, some violators ― if you believe in, if you’re spiritual and you believe in God ― one of the violators was God, because the forests were providing a certain amount of nitrates and phosphates to the Chesapeake Bay.”
The crowd can be heard shouting in disbelief as Perry spoke.
“Oh, c’mon,” one person cried out.
At least one local religious leader took issue.
Rev. Mitch Hescox, head of the Evangelical Environmental Network, told PennLive that while some pollutants are naturally occurring, most are from fertilizers and chemicals.
“We urge the [congressman] to stand up to President Trump’s initial budget plan and increase the number of enforcement officers so we can clean up the Chesapeake and the more than 60 percent of waterways across the country that are fouled by pollutants,” he was quoted as saying.
Raging Chicken, a progressive Pennsylvania political website, said Trump’s proposed cuts to the EPA would eliminate the Chesapeake Bay program.
“This program would no longer be able to provide much-needed support to Pennsylvania small farmers and local governments to improve their local water quality,” said Patrick McDonnell, acting head of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, according to the website.
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